Gas-engine



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

G. WESTINGHOUSE 8: E. RUUD. GAS ENGINE. No. 583,584. Patented June1,1897.

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G. WESTINGHOUSE 88 E. RUUD.

- GAS ENGINE.

No". 583,584. Patented June 1, 1897.

6%:12285: 6a ufi n'rojfia UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE IVESTINGHOUSE AND EDWIN RUUD, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

GAS-ENG|NE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 583,584, dated June 1,1897'. Application filed April 22, 1896. Renewed April 29, 1897. SerialNo. 634,463. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, GEORGE WESTING- HOUSE and EDWIN RUUD, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny andState of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered a certain new anduseful Improvement in Gas-Engines, of which improvement the following isa specification.

The object of our invention is to provide an improvement in gas-engines;and to this end our invention consists in a new and improved internalcombustion or explosive gas engine which is efficient in operation,simple and economical in construction, and adapted to effect a regularand uniform rotation of the main shaft, in a new and improved valve-gearfor operating one or more valves by motion derived from the main shaftof the engine, and in certain combinations and features of construction,all as hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an application of ourinvention, Figure 1 is a central vertical section through the cylindersand crank-case of a two-cylinder gasengine provided with ourimprovement; Fig. 2, a vertical section through the crank-case andthrough one of the cylinders in a plane at right angles to the plane ofFig. 1; Fig. 3, a vertical section on the line a; a; of Fig. 1, and Fig.4: a horizontal section on the line y y of Figs. 1 and 3.

The preferred form of our improvement comprises two vertical cylindersmounted on a closed crank-case and having their pistons directlyconnected with two similarly-placed cranks on the main shaft. The cycleof operations is the same in both cylinders. In each cylinder the chargeis drawn in during an outstroke of the piston, compressed during thenext instroke, exploded and expanded during the next outstroke, andexhausted during the next instroke; but although the two pistons movetogether the similar operations in the two cylinders are not coincident.When explosion and expansion are taking place in one cylinder, a chargeis being drawn into the other cylinder and a Working stroke occursduring each revolution.

In the embodiment of our invention as shown in the drawings thevalve-gear is specially adapted for application to a two-cylinderengine, but it may be employed with a single cylinder or with more thantwo cylinders without affecting the general construction.

The cylinders l and 2 may be either cast integral with one another orseparately, as preferred, and are mounted on a closed crankcase 3,provided with the removable heads 4 and 5, on which are formed bearings6 and 7 for the main shaft 8. The pistons 9 and 10 are connected withthe cranks 11 and 12 by means of the connecting-rods 13 and 14, thecranks being located in the same plane and ,on the same side of the mainshaft, so that the pistons move together in the same direction.

A gear-wheel 15 on the main shaft meshes with a gear-wheel 16, mountedon a countershaft 17, which passes through the removable head 5 of thecrank-case and is provided with the bearings 18 and 19. A gear-wheel ismounted on the counter-shaft 17 between the bearings 18 and 19 andmeshes with a gearwheel 21, mounted on a cam-shaft 22, which extendsinto the crank-case and is supported in bearings 23, 24, and 25.

Mounted on the camshaft 22 are two cams 26 and 27, which are adapted toengage with rollers 28 and 29 on the oscillatory levers 30 and 31,respectively. The levers 30 and 31 are mounted to oscillate on a shaft32, which is supported by a bracket 33, centrally located in the upperpart of the crank-case. The bracket 33 is formed integral with a plateor flange portion 34, which rests on projecting portions or lugs 35,formed on the upper portion of the crank-case, and which is secured inplace by bolts 36. These supporting-lugs or projecting portions 35 areof such a width as to form a proper bearing for the plate or flangeportion 34 of the bracket and to permit the removal of the bracket by alateral movement after the bolts 36 are withdrawn. By means of thisconstruct-ion a substantial bearing is provided for the bracket, whichis in position to receive the strain applied through the levers 30 and31, and the bolts 36 act merely to prevent lateral or upward move-'revolutions.

ments which might be caused by jarring, but which do not cause anyconsiderable strain on the bolts.

One arm of each of the levers 30 and 31 is normally in contact with oneend of a rod or stem 37 or 38 of an exhaust-valve which is oper ated bythe movement of the lever with which it is in contact. In the drawings,Fig. 3, the rod 37 is shown connected to the exhaustvalve 39. In casethe engine has but a single cylinder one cam only and one only of thelevers 30 31 will be required; but in the construction shown, as thereare two cylinders, we employ two separate exhaust-valves, twooscillating levers, and two cams on the shaft 22.

In order to obtain a regular movement of the engine, we employ twocylinders, each of which performs a working stroke every otherrevolution, one cylinder performing its working stroke during onerevolution of the main shaft and the other cylinder. performing itsworking stroke during the next revolution of the main shaft. Inaccordance with this method of operating when the piston 9 of cylinder 1is moved downward by an explosion of the mixed gases the piston 10 willalso be moved downward and will draw in its charge of mixed air and gas.On the next upward stroke the piston 9 will force out the burned gasesand the piston 10 will compress the mixed gases in its cylinder, and onthe next downward stroke of the pistons the piston 10 will be actuatedby the explosion or combustion of the gases and a new charge of mixedair and gases will be drawn into the cylinder 1. By means of this methodof operating the main shaft will be actuated by an explosion during eachrevolution, and a more uniform rotative movement of the shaft will beefected than can be obtained by those engines in which an impulse isgiven only once in two In accordance with this in ethod of operating oneor the other of the exhaustvalves of the two-cylinder engine is openedevery revolution, and in order to effect the desired alternate movementof the exhaustvalves and their actuating-levers 30 and 31 the cams 26and 27 are placed one hundred and eighty degrees apart on the shaft 22.During the exhaust-stroke of one revolution the cam 26 will actuate thelever 30 and open and permit the closure of the exhaust-valve 39 ofcylinder 2, and during the exhauststroke of the next revolution the cam27 will actuate the lever 31 and open and permit the closure of theexhaust-valve of cylinder 1.

It will be obvious that with this construction and method of operatingthe working parts of the engine may bemade much lighter than would benecessary if the explosions in the two cylinders were simultaneous orthan would be necessary in a single-cylinder engine of the same power.

On the cam-shaft 22 is securedabevel gearwheel 40, which meshes with .abevel gearwheel 41 011 a vertical shaft 42, mounted ina bearing 453,which passes through the upper portion of the crankcase, as shown inFig. 3. The shaft 42 carries a centrifugal governor lat, which isconnected with and adapted to regulate the position of a hollowcylindrical valve 45,c0ntrollin g the admission of air and gas to theinletvalves of the cylinders. The inlet-valves are not shown, but anyordinary form of puppet-valve may be employed for this purpose.

Air is admitted to the interior of the controlling-valve 45 through thepipe 46, passage 4:7,and ports 48, as shown in Fig. 3, and gas isadmitted through the passage 49 and ports 50 to the interior spaee'ofthe valve 45, where the air and gas mingle before passing to theinlet-valves through the ports 51 and passage 52.

The valve 45 is formed in two parts, which are adapted to be adjustedlongitudinally by the governor 44: to regulate the quantity of air andgas, and each of the parts is adapted to be rotated by hand to varytheproportions of the air and gas. This controlling-valve forms no partof our present invention, and is therefore not shown in detail, but itis fully described and claimed in our pending application, Serial No.571,386, filed Decemher 7, 1895.

The mixed air and gas may be ignited by any preferred means to producean explosion, and it is immaterial, so far as our present invention isconcerned, whether the ignition is effected by means of electricity orby means of a flame or some incandescent substance the application ofwhich is controlled by a valve. The employment of puppet-Valves or otherautomatic valves for the admission of air and gas at the proper time andthe operation of the valve-gear to effect opening and closing movementof the exhaust-valves during the return stroke which occurs immediatelyafter explosion and expansion of the combustible gases control therelative occurrence of the several operations in the two cylinders, andas any ordinarypuppet-valves operated by suction may be employed foradmission of the gases the relation of the cycles of operation in thetwo cylinders to one another will depend on the relative time ofoperation of the exhaust-valves when such puppet valves are employed.lVe have therefore considered it unnecessary to show theadmission-valves in the drawings.

\Ve claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1.The combination, in a gas-engine, of a main shaft, a cam-shaft parallelto the main shaft and actuatedthereby, acam on the camshaft, a leveractuated by the cam and adapted to engage with and operate the stem ofan exhaust-valve, a governor-shaft at right angles to the cam-shaft andgeared thereto by means of bevel gear-wheels, a governor operativelyconnected with the governor-shaft, and a valve controlled by thegovernor, substan tially as set forth.

2. The combination, in a vertical gas-en ICC gine, of two single-actingcylinders mounted on a closed crank-case, a main shaft, twosimilarly-placed cranks on the main shaft, connections from the pistonsof the cylinders to the cranks, a cam-shaft parallel to and geared tothe main shaft and located inside of the crank-case, two cams on thecam-shaft, an exhaust-valve for each cylinder, and two le-. versactuated by the cams on the cam-shaft and adapted to alternately operatethe exhaust-valves, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, in a vertical gas-engine, of two single-actingcylinders mounted on a closed crankcase, a-main shaft passing throughthe crank-case, two similarly-placed cranks on the main shaft,connections from the pistons of the cylinders to the cranks, agear-wheel on the main shaft within the crank-case meshing with agear-wheel on a counter-shaft, a cam-shaft which extends into thecrank-case and is geared to the countershaft by gear-wheelsoutside ofthe crankcase, cams on the cam-shaft within the crankcase, and leversactuated by the cams and adapted to alternately operate theexhaustvalves of the two cylinders, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, in a Vertical gas-engine, of two single-actingcylinders mounted on a closed crank-case, a main shaft passing throughthe crank-case, two similarly-placed cranks on the main shaft,connections from the pistons of the cylinders to the cranks, a cam-shaftparallel to the main shaft and 10- cated within the crank-case, acounter-shaft, gear-wheels on the counter-shaft meshingl withgear-wheels on the main shaft and camshaft, two cams oppositely placedon the camshaft, and two levers adapted to be actuated by the cams tooperate the exhaust-valves of the two cylinders, substantially as setforth.

5. The combination, in a vertical gas-e11- gine, of two single-actingcylinders mounted on a closed crank-case, a main shaft, twosimilarly-placed cranks on the main shaft, con-' nections from thepistons of the cylinders to the cranks, a camshaft parallel to andgeared to the main shaft, two cams on the cam-shaft, levers actuated bythe cams for operating the exhaust-valves of the cylinders, a bevel-gearon the cam-shaft engaging with a bevel-gear on a verticalgovernor-shaft, and a governor on the governor-shaft connected with acontrolling-valve, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination, in a vertical gas-engine, of two single-actingcylinders mounted on a closed crank-case, a main shaft, a camshaftWithin the crank-case parallel to the main shaft and geared thereto, twolevers actuated by cams on the cam-shaft for operating theexhaust-valves of the cylinders, and a removable bearing for the leverswhich is supported by projecting portions or lugs on the upper portionof the crank-case, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands.

GEO. WESTINGHOUSE. EDWIN RUUDL Witnesses:

J. SNOWDEN BELL, E. W. NEWELL.

